Supporting means for economizers



May 31, 1938. J. H. SENGSTAKEN 2,119,118

- SUPPORTING MEANS FOR ECONOMIZERS Original Filed June 17, 1956 1 }21 M i *2 }22 50 D 2 3 }g4 INVENTOR I 30 Jbim [i Smysia/Qn M ATTORNEY Patented May 31, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIE SUPPORTING MEANS FOR ECONOMIZERS John H. Sengstaken, Plandome, N. Y., assignor to The Superheater Company, New York, N. Y.

s Claims. (01. 122-510) Thisinvention relates to heat transfer apparatus and particularly to means for supporting the tubular heat absorbing elements thereof. The inventionwill be described by way of illustration as embodied in an economizer having tubes through which boiler feedwater is circulated to absorb heat from the boiler gases.

The present application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 85,670, filed June 10 1'7, 1936, now Patent No. 2,088,931, issued on August 3, 1937, in which I have disclosed and claimed arrangements for relieving the economizer headers of substantially all the strain usually imposed thereon by the weight of the 15 tubes and for also permitting easy removal of some of the tubes for replacement or repairs without disturbing the supporting means for other tubes.

A feature of the invention resides in novel and 20 improved means for supporting the economizer in a gas path of a boiler. Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description and appended claims when read in con- 5 junction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a. diagrammatic view illustrating the mounting of the economizer in a boiler, some parts being omitted for simplicity of illustration;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view showing the construction of the economizer; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the economizer.

Referring to the drawing, the economizer com- 5 prises an open-ended casing In which contains a plurality of sinuous tubular heat absorbing elements l2, one of which appears in side elevation in Fig. 2. The elements l2 are disposed in side by side relation and exposed to boiler gases that flow 40 through the casing for heating feed water or other fluid circulated through the elements between the inlet and outlet headers 14 and 16 respectively. Each element comprises a number of superposed tubes l8 interconnected by return bends to form a continuous and sinuous tubular element and, as illustrated in the drawing, consists of several sections 2!, 22, 23, 24 and the return bends or couplings 2! connecting the lower tube 25 of one section of the upper tube 26 of the adjacent sections, are disconnectable from these tubes. Likewise the end tubes 21 of each element are disconnectable from the headers l4, l6.

Plates 39, individual to each section of each element are secured near the ends of the component tubes of each section in any convenient manner, and near their mid-points also if desired. Several series of beams 32, 33, 34 that extend transversely of the economizer between the sections of the elements l2 are aligned with and support the plates 30, associated with corre- 5 sponding sections of all the elements. The plates 30 associated with the component tubes of the lowest sections 24 in all the elements rest upon a similar series of beams extending beneath the lowermost sections. Correspondingly positioned beams, near the ends and mid-points of the tubes, are in vertical alignment and rest upon collars or nuts 40 on rods 42 extending through the beams and suspended from saddle members 46 mounted on the steam and water drum 48 of the boiler. Thus, the economizer is suspended from the steam drum of the boiler and located in a gas passage communicating with the off-take thereof. The supporting rods 42 which interconnect the several series of beams 32, 33, 34 are located between downcomer tubes 44 connecting the steam drum with the water drum 5!! and lining the walls of the off-take so that the suspension rods are protected against high temperature conditions in the gas passage.

The plates which interconnect the component tubes of each section of an element l2 near the ends are in abutment at their side edges and being located between the beams 34 complement the latter to form end walls for the gas path 30 through the economizer. The plates 30 connected to the mid-points of the tubes may likewise be arranged to form a bafile dividing the gas passage.

It will be seen that since the component tubes of each corresponding section of each element are connected to plates 30 and the plates for corresponding sections of all the elements are supported upon a common series of beams extending transversely therebeneath, any section of any element may readily be removed from the economizer for repair or replacement by disconnecting the end tubes of a particular section from the related couplings or return bends and, in the case of the upper and lower sections, from the headers l4, IS. The headers l4, 16 are relieved of the weights of the tubes and the entire economizer may readily be suspended from the boiler drum 5!] or a convenient portion. of the boiler frame since the several sets of vertically aligned beams 34 are interconnected and supported by the 50 rods 42.

Although an illustrative embodiment of the invention has been shown in the drawing and described in detail herein, it is understood that there are many changes and variations that may be made without departing from the invention and it is therefore intended to include all such changes and variations within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a boiler; a steam and water drum disposed above a gas passage leading to the boiler off-take; a water drum therebelow; rows of downcomer tubes arranged along opposite walls of said gas passage and connecting said drums; an economizer positioned in said gas passage between said rows of tubes; and members disposed in spaces between adjacent tubes of said rows connecting said economizer to a support thereabove for suspending the economizer therefrom.

2. In a boiler; a steam and water drum disposed above a gas passage leading to the boiler off-take; a water drum therebelow; rows of downcomer tubes arranged along opposite walls of said gas passage and connecting said drums; an economizer positioned in said gas passage below said steam drum and located between said rows of downcomer tubes; and members disposed in spaces between adjacent tubes in said rows and connected to said steam drum and economizer for supporting the latter.

3. In a boiler; a steam and water drum dis posed above a gas passage leading to the boiler off -take; an economizer having a plurality of fluid circulating elements disposed in side by side relation and each divided into a number of superimposed sections which comprise sinuously connected parallel tubes, and detachable couplings interconnecting the component sections of the respective elements; a plurality of supporting members extending transversely of said elements between the sections thereof and below the lowermost sections thereof and supporting corresponding sections of all said elements so that upon disconnection of any section of any element from the related coupling said section may be removed from the economizer while the other sections of the same element remain supported by the transverse members associated therewith; saddle members mounted on said drum; and means connected to said transverse supporting members and said sadd1e members on said steam and water drum for suspending the economizer from the latter.

JOHN H. SENGSTAKEN. 

